Food Allergy Counseling

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Yesterday, I saw my dad for breakfast; neither of us had eaten anything yet. He hadn’t shaved in a few days and he kissed my cheek hello. Nothing unusual there, right? About halfway through the bfast he said with some alarm, “Your face! You have red welts? Is that from me?”

“Yup.” I already knew I had welts on my face. I could feel them, raised clusters of bumps that were itchy and hurting. There wasn't much to do as they go away after time, maybe some ice if I think of it. But I wasn’t surprised it happened, nor was I overly alarmed, although I'm sure it didn't look pretty.

This has been happening since I was a baby. Sensitive skin. To wool, perfumes, hand creams, face creams, make-up. The list goes on. Many of those early childhood reactions have lessened over the years. I can wear cashmere now without a silk undershirt. Woo hoo! I still can’t use Ivory soap as I get hives on my palms.

But beard stubble, that’s always been a big one and remains so. Funny, right?

I have friend Michael who every single time he kisses me hello, his goatee kills me and I have hives on my chin for hours afterwards. With some men's beards it’s worse than others. My college boyfriend shaved twice daily partly to keep my face from being a welty mess, sweet guy.

I’ve had readers ask me about cosmetic allergies, specifically concerns about mother’s kissing their babies whilst wearing make- up (and I’m gonna do a longer post about that soon) but do any of you get welts from getting kissed with beard stubble?

9 comments:

I get hives too! When my bf doesn't shave he can totally give me a rash. We recently went through a classic movie phase and were watching Jeremiah Johnson w/ Robert Redford since I had never seen it...and there is a scene where his squaw has a rash face and he figures it out and goes and shaves for her! ahahah We totally laughed. That's before the movie nosedive's into sadness and despair.

Hi - My Google alert on allergies picked up a mention of your blog on the Vail Daily last week...my daughter at 20 months is severely allergic to many things and I've started a blog at www.allergyfreeinloudoun.blogspot.com I recently talked about contact allergies and how they are sorely misunderstood. Thanks for being out there, best wishes and I look forward to reading more of your blog soon!

Oh man, I'm so glad I'm not the only one. I've been dating my boyfriend for over 5 years, and we've tried everything...even when he's freshly shaved, I still end up with a rash. Is there ANYTHING you can recommend to prevent or treat this irritation?

hey dietyhmm that is a quandaryif you've tried everything [and i'm thinking over 5 years that has included looking into his cologne, his moisturizer, his shampoo etc] have you visited an allergist together?

We've changed his lotion & shaving cream, and that's helped with the hives. It's more of a burning irritation now...Seems like a beard burn, but it happens even when he's freshly shaven. I'm wondering if there's some kind of cream or lotion he can use to soften his beard...We're currently uninsured, so a visit to the allergist is out of the question at this point...

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Disclaimer

The content on this blog is based on my personal experiences and intended solely for entertainment purposes only. I am not a medical professional and the content on this blog is not to be considered medical advice.